Far-right party regroups after crackdown in Greece

Thursday

Oct 3, 2013 at 9:16 AM

By Niki Kitsantonis, THE NEW YORK TIMES

ATHENS, Greece — For more than a year, 30 Kaisareias St. bristled with activity. Burly, black-clad members of the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party converted part of the nondescript white building into a headquarters, holding frequent meetings and fanning out for military-style neighborhood patrols armed with batons and heavy poles wrapped in the Greek flag.

Then, last week, the group disappeared overnight. A regular in the office, Giorgos Roupakias, was accused of killing an anti-fascist activist in a crime that shocked the nation, and the government began an effort to "eradicate" the group, as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras put it.

But already, serious questions have been raised about the planning and effectiveness of the crackdown, and whether it may boomerang against the government and end up generating sympathy for Golden Dawn, one of Europe's most violent far-right groups.

"If it is not handled properly, you could get a kind of a bounce back of Golden Dawn," George Katrougalos, a constitutional law professor at the University of Thrace. "If they appear to be victims of the establishment, that may broaden their appeal."

Questions are already being raised about the legality — even constitutionality — of the government's tactics.

On Wednesday, in a surprise decision, a magistrate ordered three prominent Golden Dawn lawmakers — among 35 people associated with the party who were arrested in a sweep on Saturday — to be released pending trial. After more than 17 hours of testimony, one of the men, the party's spokesman, Ilias Kasidiaris, strode from the court, called reporters "bums" and pushed photographers out of his way.

However, a fourth Golden Dawn lawmaker, Yannis Lagos, was remanded to custody after the judicial authorities deemed that evidence linking him to criminal activities — including murder, attempted murder and blackmail — was strong.

The legal wrangling pointed to the rising conviction of the government and many others here that Golden Dawn has been run less as a political party than as a mafia.

But it also underlined concerns that the government's case may be riddled with legal holes and procedural missteps in the investigation. Golden Dawn's supporters say the government is basing its case against the party members in large part on wiretaps that lacked the required judicial approval.

Samaras has made it clear that he sees no place for Golden Dawn in the Greek political system. "We must do it within the context of our democratic constitution," he said in a speech in New York this week. "But we have to go all the way and do whatever it takes."

Doing so will not be easy. Because the government cannot ban political parties, it is trying to undermine the group by dismantling its leadership and cutting its funding. Prosecutors are charging members with participating in a criminal organization, a move that would effectively outlaw the group.

In court testimony, the Golden Dawn spokesman, Kasidiaris, said his group was the victim of a politically motivated persecution aimed at discrediting the party ahead of local elections next spring. He and the others denied the government's accusations against them.

Golden Dawn's popularity has slipped since Roupakias admitted to the murder of the activist, Pavlos Fyssas, a Greek rapper whose lyrics inveighed against rightist extremism.